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<div class="chapter">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title">
<a name="about"></a>Introduction to GnomeVFS</h2></div></div></div>
<div class="toc"><dl>
<dt><span class="sect1"><a href="about.html#id2522041">Uses and Purpose</a></span></dt>
<dd><dl>
<dt><span class="sect2"><a href="about.html#id2522013">User's Perspective</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="sect2"><a href="about.html#id2522031">Developer's Perspective</a></span></dt>
</dl></dd>
<dt><span class="sect1"><a href="gnome-vfs-first-steps.html">A Gentle Programming Primer</a></span></dt>
<dd><dl>
<dt><span class="sect2"><a href="gnome-vfs-first-steps.html#id2515146">Simple Sample Program</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="sect2"><a href="gnome-vfs-first-steps.html#id2522134">Conversion of a Sample Code Block</a></span></dt>
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<div class="sect1">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
<a name="id2522041"></a>Uses and Purpose</h2></div></div></div>
<p>
      GnomeVFS is a filesystem abstraction library allowing applications
      plugable transparent access to a variety of "real" filesystems, from
      WebDAV to digital cameras, to the local filesystem. It also contains
      a number of other convenient file utilities such as a comphrehensive
      MIME database / Application registry, and a copy engine. Use of GnomeVFS
      ensures that an application or component will be usable by Nautilus
      or other GnomeVFS applications for handling the display of data from
      various URIs, as well 
    </p>
<div class="sect2">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
<a name="id2522013"></a>User's Perspective</h3></div></div></div>
<p>
	From a user's perspective GnomeVFS enabled applications provide consistent
	access to their data, whether it be stored on remote servers or on their
	local harddisk, or even a peripheral device such as a Rio or a digital
	camera. Rather than having to work around the distinction between storage
	you can work off of and storage you can only "download" from or "upload" to,
	GnomeVFS allows users to store their documents and data wherever it is
	most convenient.
      </p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
<a name="id2522031"></a>Developer's Perspective</h3></div></div></div>
<p>
	Besides providing transparent access to data methods that you might
	otherwise have to implement, GnomeVFS provides a number of convenience
	libraries for processing URIs, detecting the MIME type of files, and
	even figuring out which applications or components to launch to view
	a file or what icon to use. Writing a GnomeVFS module may also be an
	appropriate solution to some data access problems as it allows the
	developer to implement a relatively small number of functions to gain
	general filesystem semantics (and of course, writing a GnomeVFS module
	benefits other applications too!).
      </p>
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